The good garden blog is about sharing garden inspiration and ideas from historic gardens around the world and some right next door. Garden stories explore garden history, design, and the garden people behind famous and not-so-famous gardens.My garden photographs span dozens of places across 5 continents. Please join me in celebrating good garden design.

Hedges define a space, provide shelter, and create the perfect backdrop for shrubs and perennials. Tall hedges pull the eye upwards. An opening in a hedge adds mystery and invites us to look in, to enter. A nook in a hedge is the perfect place to secretly sit.

Hedges offer interest all year round. They make places for wildlife to hide, or rest, or sleep . A trimmed hedge is an opportunity to create fantastical structures or just keep it simple.

Once established, they take care of themselves; they don’t need to be painted and they don’t fall down like a wooden fence. Like a fence, though, a hedge can hide an unwanted view.

Even with today's power tools, formal hedges are a lot of work. I can't imagine what it was like with manual tools. Old Garden Tools Virtual Museum's mission is to be "a resource to collectors and researchers in the field of tools and ephemera used in the art and science of gardening." Thanks to their work we have a few examples of tools used in the early 1900's to keep hedges looking their best.